In the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project, VPUU provided backbone support to partner organisations in different capacities. These support services included coordinating, providing supporting infrastructure through communication, hosting meetings, facilitation, technology support, data collection and reporting support and training, logistical and administrative assistance.
The strength of the partnerships within the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project has resulted in the collective success of the project. This has taken considerable coordinating work, and serves as an example of the impact that Whole-of-Society response can have.
VPUU is an area-based community development organisation that aims at safe, sustainable, integrated communities, citizenship, pride and the improvement of quality of life for residents in their neighbourhoods through a comprehensive range of urban improvements and social interventions.
VPUU have pioneered the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project. The organisation has co-ordinated a diverse group of partners, in eight neighbourhoods to inject the project funds into local economies.
The KfW Development Bank is the official representative of the German Development Cooperation. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Government, the KfW finance and support programmes and projects that mainly involve public sector players in developing countries and emerging economies – from their conception and execution to monitoring their success. Their goal is to help partner countries fight poverty, maintain peace, protect both the environment and the climate and shape globalisation in an appropriate way.
https://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/International-financing/KfW-Entwicklungsbank/
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is the funder of this project. The German ambassador in South Africa has actively supported the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project.
The City of Cape Town is the main partner of this project. Through the Urban Management Directorate VPUU has been commissioned to implement the project. The City through its Integrated Development Plan promotes one of its pillars, a “Caring City”. This project sits within this pillar to practically give meaning to the concept of a caring city. The CoCT supports in all 8 neighbourhoods either VPUU or its sister programme, the Mayors Urban Renewal Programme.
The core function and responsibility of the Western Cape Government Health is to deliver a comprehensive package of health services to the people of the province. The First 1000 Days project is a public health awareness campaign that provides educational materials and support services to mothers and their babies during the first 1000 days of a child’s life (from conception up to the age of 2). The project focuses on nutrition, creating a healthy and loving environment and stimulating play. The Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town’s respective Departments of Health have actively supported the project by connecting the project to health facilities within the designated eight neighbourhoods across Cape Town. In registering for the Community Care voucher, pregnant women were able to connect to these support services. Additionally, the City of Cape Town has actively lent their support and contact points to endorse the project.
https://www.westerncape.gov.za/first-1000-days/
Pioneered by Flash and DG Murray Trust, the CoCare Voucher Programme works with local and regional Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) to determine which communities are most at-risk regarding food- and economic security. Electronic vouchers were chosen as the delivery mechanism to avoid the logistical inefficiencies of food parcel delivery, allowing CoCare Voucher recipients to redeem their vouchers at a partner store of their choosing. The Community Care voucher formed a key component of the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project, as x amount/% of funds was directly distributed to beneficiaries from ECD programmes, community gardens, food kitchens, people with disabilities and pregnant women.
DGMT is a public innovator committed to developing South Africa’s potential through strategic investment. Our goal for South Africa is a flourishing people, economy and society.
Embrace is a national movement for connected, supported and celebrated motherhood. We want to see every new mother embraced and flourishing from the start of her motherhood journey, understanding that an empowered and embraced mother raises a thriving child.
The Grow Great Campaign seeks to galvanise South Africa towards achieving zero stunting by 2030. Using data to mobilise policy makers, stories to inspire the public, communities of practice to support Community Health Workers and mom & baby classes to support parents, the Grow Great campaign seeks to galvanise South Africa towards a future where no child is unjustly denied the opportunity to reach their full potential. DGMT, Embrace and Grow Great have experience partnering with pregnant women and new mothers. As such, they have proved invaluable in connecting their networks of pregnant women to the Community Care vouchers. DGMT also led the initial Community Care voucher programme.
ELRU
The Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU) is a non-profit organisation with forty-two years’ experience in the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector. Established in 1978, they support the cognitive development and executive functioning skills of vulnerable young children ages 0–6 by building the capacity of the adults around them. Their programmes include: home visiting (first 1000 days) from conception to age 2, early learning playgroups (ages 3–5) and centre-based support (ages 0–5). ELRU formed an important partner in the data collection process of the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project, identifying beneficiaries through their network of ECD programmes and schools offering Grade R.
SAIE helps to address poverty and unemployment through focused initiatives fostering entrepreneurship.. The SAIE trains community-based organisations to convey business skills, uncover entrepreneurship qualities and ensure sustainable economic development and wealth creation. The institute currently works in education, agriculture, enterprise development and information technology.
https://www.entrepreneurship.co.za/
The Western Cape Food Forum emerged out of the Western Cape NGO-Government Food Relief Forum, which formed in April 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. The forum consists of a broad range of stakeholders in the public and private sector, as well as civil society. It focuses on bridging the gaps between diverse stakeholders in the food and nutrition system, promoting joint action and implementation between stakeholders, prioritising relationships with the public sector, creating an enabling environment for community-led initiatives, and continuing with food relief coordination aimed at vulnerable populations, and with food relief and vulnerability data mapping.
The Western Cape Food Forum insights informed the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project approach to providing food relief. Based on their information, the project rewarded soup kitchen volunteers and supplied community food kitchens; both much needed as donors and volunteers start to take strain. The decision to distribute digital vouchers rather than food parcels was also informed by forum’s learnings.
Abalimi Bezekhaya (meaning farmers of the home in isiXhosa), established 1982, is a non-profit micro-farming organisation that aims to provide basic human necessities for indigent persons, by assisting impoverished groups and communities within the area of Greater Cape Town known as the Cape Flats to establish and maintain their own vegetable gardens, so as to enable those groups and communities to supplement their existing, inadequate supply of food and create livelihoods. Abalimi connected the Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project to a number of established community gardens and gardeners.
https://abalimibezekhaya.org.za/
Kazang Prepaid is one of Africa’s leading micro-payment processing services and is a subsidiary of CashConnect, a leading provider of payments solutions in sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. It provides typically under-serviced consumers a way to conveniently pre-pay for essential products, primarily in rural or peri-urban areas.
Flash is the largest informal retail network in Africa. They provide innovative point-of-sale technology and business support to retail locations and entrepreneurs, primarily in the informal market. A Flash enabled shop is almost always within walking distance and offers uniquely broad product options, increasing foot traffic and profits for shop owners, and saving customers travel time and costs.
Kazang and Flash have provided the technology to distribute the six cycles of R300 Community Care voucher to 20 000 beneficiaries across the eight neighbourhoods in Cape Town.
The Towards Building a Community Circular Economy project has also partnered with a number of food kitchens, early childhood development centres and community gardens. These partnerships work towards creating a network society, and serve to introduce organisations to communities, for example through the interactive community asset map.
